Charlie Chaplin's Red Letter Days at the Slippery Rock Community Library - July 13Charlie Chaplin was a wonderful comedian whose movies and skits continue to entertain us today. Come join the library and SRU as we welcome Dan Kamin, Charlie Chaplin expert and annotator of Fred Goodwin's book Charlie Chaplin's Red Letter Days.

Open Hearth Cooking Class at the Old Stone House - July 15Prepare and enjoy the foods of the patriots, using their recipes and the hearth of the Old Stone House.

The Stone House historic cooking programs allow visitors to learn more about local history, while also learning the role of food and cooking in our rich past. Visitors enjoy a hands-on, interactive history education while sampling delicious dishes from long ago! Register here.

Kids History Fun Days - July 24-26Just a few days left to register for our Kids History Fun Days, coming up July 24-26!

Historical games, crafts, and colonial cooking experiences will give kids a hands-on encounter with the past - sign up today! Learn more here.

​​The fifth annual installment of "Homebrewed History" took place Saturday, March 25th at the Old Stone House. The event focused on the Bavarian law, "Reinheitsgebot" - also known as the German Beer Purity Law of 1516, that regulated prices of beer sales while specifying what ingredients were permissible to use in brewing.

Thank you to Dr. Sean Macmillan, an experienced homebrewer, for discussing the brewing process and origins of the historically-authentic recipes used in the event.​Each Homebrewed event focuses on a different historical culture. Previous themes have included Ancient Greece, Colonial America, and the British Empire.

Another Homebrewed History will take place this fall 2017. Be sure to check back for details!

The fifth installment of the annual "Homebrewed History" series will take place March 25, 2017 from 2-4PM at the Old Stone House.

This year’s event will focus on the "Reinheitsgebot" - also known as the German Beer Purity Law of 1516. The Bavarian law regulated prices for the sale of beers, and specified what ingredients were permitted in beer brewing. Attendees will learn about the historical background of late-medieval German states, the reasons for the law, its evolution over time, and its influence on German beers today.

Participants will watch demonstrations of the brewing process and sample beers made from period-authentic recipes. Light hors d'oeuvres will also be served. Beers will be a Kolsch and... a Triple Dunkel, both brewed by SRU assistant professor of metalsmithing Sean Macmillan. Macmillan, an experienced homebrewer, will discuss the brewing process and the origins of the historically-authentic recipes used for the event.

This spring’s program is the fifth in the center’s “Homebrewed History” series. Each event in the series focuses on a different historical culture – past themes have included Ancient Greece, Colonial America, and the British Empire. "The series has been a great success," said Aaron Cowan, SRU associate professor of history and director of the Stone House Center for Public Humanities. "Each event has drawn history buffs and the homebrewing crowd alike. Food and drink are tangible, engaging ways for people to interact with and learn about the past."

The humanities - history, literature, languages, art, philosophy - focus on creating lives of purpose and meaning, appreciating diversity and complexity, and communicating effectively with others while overcoming adversity. Here are just some reasons why you should study the humanities:

The humanities help us understand others through language, history, and culture.

They foster social justice and equality.

The humanities reveal how people have tried to make moral, spiritual, and intellectual sense of the world.

They teach empathy.

They teach us how to deal critically and logically with subjective and complex information.

Humanities help you understand the impact that science, technology, and medicine has had on society and understand the future scientific needs of society.

Humanities strengthen your ability to communicate and work with others.

The humanities encourage us to think creatively by teaching us to reason about being human and to ask questions about our world.

The humanities develop informed and critical citizens.

Humanities courses are FUN!!! You get to explore new ideas, cultures, discussions, and gain a better understanding of the world around you.

More About Us: The Stone House Center for Public Humanities connects the university’s humanities faculty and students to the broader community by offering collaborative educational programming, public forums, non-degree courses, workshops, and service-learning opportunities all focused on bringing the insights of the humanities to bear on contemporary public life. The Center welcomes partnership with community institutions, and values work that transcends both academic disciplines and the boundary between campus and the larger community. Contact us to learn more.